Vernissage 6 June  - 7 pm

Exhibition period 7 June - 7 September

From June 2024, the artist and art historian Christian Manss will take over the curation of the PENTACON Gallery in the Medienkulturhaus in Striesen, Dresden. He will concentrate on two exhibitions per year. The focus will be on professional artists from Dresden and the region.

How do you start a new game? - With a KICK-OFF. He has been able to win over the artist and entertainer Falk Töpfer for this. Mr Töpfer likes to leave his beloved Neustadt and come to tranquil Striesen, where there is plenty of space for culture between the Programmkino Ost, El Horst and opposite Paddy Foley's.

Christian Manss describes Falk Töpfer as an everyday chronicler who gives space to icons of normal life in his work. The focus is often on the supporting actors and the incidental. The painter Töpfer quietly brings them into the picture and, through reduction and abstraction, creates a narrative, empathetic image rather than a documentary one.

Dr Stefan Militzer also finds fitting words: "At first glance, Falk Töpfer's paintings confront the viewer with an astonishing naivety: Painted with a brushstroke that is often reminiscent of the hesitant lines of a child's drawing, they feature everyday objects such as tables, chairs and trees. However, the longer the viewer's gaze rests on the elaborate oil paintings, the more the apparent clarity of their depiction gives way to astonishment. An irritation or uncertainty may arise, which has various causes."